Table 1.
Characteristics of the Study Sample (n=1243)
| Clinical characteristics | |
| Women | 661 (53.2) |
| Age at exam 6, years | 56.9 (8.8) |
| Age at exam 8, years | 66.3 (8.7) |
| Age at MRI testing, years | 66.9 (8.7) |
| Time between exam 6 and MRI, years | 10.0 (1.1) |
| Time between exam 8 and MRI, years | 0.58 (0.71) |
| Exam 6 covariates | |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 125 (18) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 94 (7.6) |
| Current smokers | 161 (13.0) |
| Prevalent cardiovascular disease | 78 (6.3) |
| Hypertension JNC 7 stage ≥1 | 405 (32.7) |
| Total cholesterol level, mg/dL | 204 (37) |
| Hypertension treatment | 262 (21.2) |
| Lipid lowering therapy use | 132 (10.6) |
| Statin use | 108 (8.7) |
| Antithrombotic use | 328 (26.4) |
| Carotid ultrasound measures | |
| ICA IMT duplex 1 | 1.65 (0.90) |
| ICA IMT duplex 2 | 2.26 (1.12) |
| ICA IMT change per year | 0.065 (0.087) |
| CCA IMT duplex 1 | 0.62 (0.12) |
| CCA IMT duplex 2 | 0.70 (0.17) |
| CCA IMT change per year | 0.0084 (0.010) |
| Stenosis ≥25% | 158 (12.8) |
| Stenosis ≥50% | 20 (1.6) |
| MRI measures | |
| Cerebral microbleeds | 101 (8.2) |
Values are mean (SD) for continuous variables and n (%) for categorical variables. Prevalent cardiovascular disease includes coronary heart disease, heart failure, and intermittent claudication. Participants were excluded if they were attending the baseline exam (exam 6) without MRI or with prevalent stroke, dementia, or other neurological condition affecting the MRI measures. CCA indicates common carotid artery; ICA, internal carotid artery; IMT, intima–media thickness; JNC 7, Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.